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HISTORICAL AND 

DESCRIPTIVE 

SKETCHES 

)f Salt I^ake City 




VRY OF CONGRESS. 



T.-.- iopnrig&l Id.- 



Shelf.? 



D STATES OF AMERICA. 








Published and 
' Cppyrighted 

By CHISHOLM BROS 

PORTLAND, MAINE 
1891 



UTAH, one of the few remaining territories of the American Republic yet to be classed as states, has for its capital 
chief attraction Salt Lake City. The fame of this city of the Saints is universal, and is oftener in the mouths of i 
than many of our great cities ; this prominence is largely due to the peculiar religious views held by the founders of the c 
which have drawn upon them the attention of all classes. 

Salt Lake City was founded by the Mormon pioneers, after their exodus from Nauvoo, in Illinois, July 24, 1847, upon wl 
day a band of one hundred and forty-three men with President Brigham Young at their head arrived in the valley ; a week 1; 
a second detachment arrived, swelling the number to four hundred, followed by the whole church population. Today the 
numbers thirty-five thousand inhabitants and occupies a beautiful site upon a spur of the Wasatch mountains, eighteen miles f 
the Great Salt Lake, from which its name is derived. 

On January 11, 1851, Great Salt Lake City was incorporated. It is situated one thousand and sixty-nine miles west of On- 
on the Missouri and is the "Half-Way House" to California and the Pacific coast. Its altitude is four thousand two hunc 
and sixty-one feet above sea level and forty-three feet above Salt Lake. The city is regularly laid out in ten acre blocks, u 
the Philadelphia checker board pattern, with streets eight rods wide crossing at right angles ; these have broad sidew 
frino-ed by luxuriant shade trees, watered by pure caiion streams, conducted through the city by water-courses upon the surf 
It is divided into five precincts and twenty-one wards, is lighted by electricity, street cars run to every point of the comp 
and telegraph and telephone facilities assist its inhabitants. 
^,^LV J TEMPLE BLOCK. 

'^ Immediately following the planning of the city. President Young set apart the present ten acre Temple block, or " Sac 
Square " of the Mormons, as the sight of the future temple. This with the mammoth tabernacle standing beside it, and 0I 
church buildings in close proximity constitute the chief attraction to strangers from abroad. 

THE TEMPLE. 
The o-round whereon stands this monument of industry and perseverance, was consecrated to the purpose Februar)' 
1853, and on the 6th of April following the cornerstone of the Mormon temple was laid sixteen feet below the surface of 
earth. Then began the Herculean task of transporting from the mouth of the Little Cottonwood canon the huge blocks 
white granite which have since risen at the rate of seven and one-half feet each year. 



Each member of the church did his part, and each settlement and ward of the city furnished its teams. The quarry was 
listance of twenty-two miles from the building, and until the year 1873, when steam came to the aid of the toilers, the work 
)gressed but slowly, owing to the massive proportions of the walls. These walls at the foundation are sixteen feet thick, at the 
face nine and three-quarters, and "at the square of building five feet thick. The foundation covers an area of twenty-one 
lusand eight hundred and fifty square feet. The length from east to west is one hundred eighty-six and one-half feet; the 
'1th, ninety-nine feet. The height from base to square will be one hundred feet, ornamented by six towers, three on either 
4, the center one of which will reach two hundred feet above the earth, bearing the inscription, " Holiness to the Lord." 
len finished the temple will contain nine apartments on each of its three stories. Within the sacred edifice services will not 
.se day or night, and here the Mormons believe, will be the center of a millennial reign. 

THE TABERNACLE. 

At 2 P.M. on Sunday all Salt Lake assembles at the Tabernacle. This curiosity of architecture is elliptical in shape, two 

'idredand fifty feet long, one hundred and fifty feet wide and seventy feet in height from floor to ceiling. The interior of 

'; building presents the appearance of an immense oval arch without center support, it is in fact the largest self-supporting 

'h in America, with the single exception of the Grand Central Depot, New York City. The roof, a single oval span eighty feet 

li, is formed by a strong lattice of timbers firmly bolted together (see section of roof). These rest upon forty-six pillars of 

sandstone masonry, each twenty-four feet high, and nine by three feet dimension. 

The building has a seating capacity of thirteen thousand five hundred, and its acoustic properties are phenomenal, so that 
h member of the congregation, however, remote his position, can catch each word of the speaker. 

Twenty doors, each nine feet wide, allow the exit of this vast audience in six to seven minutes. Within this Tabernacle is 
acramental table, behind this an elevated platform about five feet from the floor, with three long seats raised one above the 
er for the presiding church authorities ; this is backed up by the mammoth organ, the volume and tone of whose three 
)usand pipes have full scope in the immense proportions of the building. 

ASSEMBLY HALL. _ 

Owing to the peculiar formation of the Tabernacle the heating thereof is an impossibility. Therefore in the colder weather 
a Utah winter the worshipers seek the more comfortable, steam-heated Assembly hall, which also occupies a part of the 
mple block. 



It is built of granite from the Temple quarries. The dimensions are one hundred and twenty by sixty-eight feet, th^ 
three feet from base to square, seating capacity three thousand. Above the roof rise twenty-two minarets to a height of twe 
four feet, adding to the effect of the central spire, eighty-two feet high. 

-Within, the ceiling, forty feet from the floor, is divided into sixteen painted panels representing historical scenes from 
Mormon faith, dates of the organization of the church, of the arrival at Salt Lake, and fac-similes of the various temples. 

THE ENDOWMENT HOUSE. 

Near by. in the northwest corner of Temple block, stand a small adobe building, not unlike the many so commoi 
Salt Lake. This is the Endowment house, through which passes the neophyte into full fellowship in the church. Its sec 
are most zealously guarded. Here is kept and bestowed the endowment raiment, baptismal and marriage ceremonies perforr 
and here take place those unknown rites of the Mormon church with which rumor and fancy have speculated so long. 

LION HOUSE, BEE HIVE HOUSE, EAGLE GATE, PRESIDENT YOUNG'S GRAVE, 

DESERET NEWS OFFICE. 

Next Temple block begins the special homestead of Brigham Young. It was formerly surrounded by a high wall of col 
stones and mud, part of which remains. Within are two of President Young's former residences, called respectively the " 
Hive House" and the "Lion House" from the ornaments which surmount them. 

The Eagle Gate is an entrance through this wall just beyond the Bee Hive House, its name derived from an eagle pert 
upon a bee hive, which surmounts it. 

Through the Eagle gate is reached the grave of Brigham Young, all that now remains of the vast possessions of 
Mormon prophet. President Young lies under a huge slab of granite many tons in weight, his grave surrounded by an 
railing, while the lot is fenced by the same material ; part of the inclosed ground is turfed, but the larger portion is lef 
the interment of his wives. 

The office of the Deseret News, a paper founded in 1850, and for a long time the only journal published between 
Missouri river and San Francisco, also occupies space in the walled inclosure, though upon the next block. Behind the N 
building are the immense warehouses and stores of the tithing office, through which the certain part of each man's inc 
reached the church. 



GARDO HOUSE. 

This is a large, showy, mansard-roofed house, lawn-surrounded and imposing. It stands near the Temple block, and forms 
home of the president of the church, and executive mansion. It was built by President Brigham Young who designed that 
hould form the home of his favorite wife Amelia Folsom Young ; from this fact it has received the sobriquet of "Amelia 
ace." The departed father of the church left a provision in his will to this effect, but it was disregarded. 

Z. C. M. I. 

Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution building stands at the head of Main Street, and does a business aggregating 
300,000 a year. As its name implies it is a church institution with a president, vice-president and board of directors, from 
)ng the Mormon leaders. The " Co." are manufacturers, importers, wholesale and retail dealers in general merchandise of 
ry description, in fact the Z. C. M. A. out-generals the "general store " in the variety and bulk of its stock in trade. 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 

Naturally the interest of the visitor to Salt I^ake City centers in the Mormon edifices, yet there are other church structures, 
e Catholic, the Presbyterian, the Baptist, the Methodist, the Episcopalian and the Reorganized each having their separate 
iples. 

The Salt I.ake Theater and the Opera House attest the appreciation of music and the drama, in fact the city is considered the 
it of its size in America for the patronage of theatricals. 

Its hotels, the Cullen, Continental and Walker, afford fine entertainment, audits schools, universities and municipal buildings 
on a par with eastern progress. 

A BIT OF MORMON HISTORY. 

On December 23, 1805, Joseph Smith, tlie founder of the Mormon faith was born at Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont, 
len ten years of age his parents removed their numerous family to New York, and finally settled at Manchester, Ontario 
nty, the site of the Hill Cumorah from which the " Golden l-'lates " which had been announced by an angel vision, were taken 
with a mighty display of celestial machinery by the prophet Joseph Smith, September 22, 1827 ; with them were unearthed the 
astplate, and the " Urim and Thummin " which allowed their wearer to decipher the scrolls. 

1830 is the year number one of the Mormon era, in this year the book of Mormon was translated and published. On April 
he church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was organized at Manchester, New York ; it began with six members. 



In [831, the first flight was made to Kirtland, Ohio, where the first temple was built. In the same year Joseph Smith, ; 
sundry other Saints, transferred themselves from Kirtland, Ohio, to Jackson county, Missouri, where the land of Zion was dt 
cated, twelve miles west of Independence, Missouri. 

March 26, 1832, Joseph Smith was acknowledged president of the High Priesthood, at a general council of the church, ; 
the same year April 14, Brigham Young in Vermont was converted to the faith, by one of the band of elders who had been si 
moned b}' God to go forth in pairs and preach. He immediately went to Kirtland and became an ardent follower of the Propl 

In 1833, the prosecutions began, with bitter enmity between Saints and Gentiles, which culminated during December, iS 
in the withdrawal of the Saints into Illinois. Here ujjon a beautiful site they established a new " State in Zion " afterward ca 
Nauvoo, which soon contained fifteen thousand souls. Proselyting now began in earnest. The elders of the church in p; 
according to divine command, visited every quarter of the land, and spanned the ocean to gather followers from the countrie; 
Europe. The returning missionaries brought companies of converts, who swelledvthe Mormon ranks. 

In 1843 the revelation regarding polygamy was received, though it was not practiced openly until 1852. 

Into their new habitation at Nauvoo strife followed the Saints, and in 1844 the Prophet Joseph Smith, his brother Hyi 
and two other leaders of the church were arrested on a charge of treason. They were imprisoned at Carthage, Illinois, wh 
upon Thursday, June 27, 1844, a body of two hundred armed Missourians, with their faces blackened, broke into the jail and s 
to death both the Smiths, and desperately wounded their companions. 

Immediately Brigham Young succeeded Joseph Smith as president of the church, and in 1845 t^'""^ Mormon leaders deterrai 
to abandon Nau\-oo. In September of that year twenty-nine Mormon houses were burned by Gentiles, the charter of Nauvoo 
repealed b)' the state legislature, and in \-iew of these facts the church made a treaty with the mob to evacuate the beautiful 1 
in the spring. Several places were proposed, Vancouver's island, Texas and California, at last they settled upon some va 
of the Rocky mountains. 

In February of 1846 the first Morm<.>n exodus, numbering two thousand souls, preceded by a small band of pioneers v 
Brigham Young as leader, set out for Council Bluffs ; and from that point, after wintering on the west bank of the Missc 
followed Fremont's trail over the Rocky mountains. With few stops of long duration en route the party reached Salt Lake ( 
(see Mormon emigrant trains) as we saw in the opening chapter. Here their wanderings ceased, although the church 
extended its ramifications to other western states and territories. 



131 91 



PROMINENT MORMONS. 

(■'i-:.i in order, of a right, comes the Prophet Joseph Smith whose history is closely identified with that of the Mormon faith ; 
fron; his connection with the church in its palmiest days, and for his marriageable proclivities, Brigham Young is proba- 

:lest known representative Mormon. He was born in Withingham, Windham county, Vermont, June i. 1801, baptised 

lurch of Latter Day Saints April 14, 1832, and died at Salt Lake City, August 29, 1877. Me left seventeen wives, six- 
.sui. ind twenty-eight daughters, and had been the father of fifty-six children. 
VI' -d Woodruff succeeded him as president of the church ; John Taylor, one of the founders of the church, was with the 

Dseph Smith at the time of his murder in Illinois. George U. Cannon is the present representative from Utah in the 
g-jcss of the United States. 

GREAT SALT LAKE. 
This is justly termed " The Dead Sea of America," as its waters sustain no life. In thirty minutes the cars of the Utah and 

ailway carry the visitor from Salt Lake City to Garfield Beach, with pavilions and bathing houses, the curious inland 

I'esoi 

The /ater of the lake is heavy with salts and wonderfully buoyant, sustaining a person upon the surface for an) length of 

witli ut effort; receiving as it does so many streams. without outlet, evaporation concentrates the solids of the waters with 

esu! :hat while the brine of the ocean contains but three per cent of salt, the waters of Great Salt Lake contain twent)- 

per cent. 

FORT DOUGLASS. 

s a United States military post three miles north of the city at the entrance to red Butte cafion, where from an eleva- 
tor; nindred feet above it looks out over the city of tlie Saints. 
'L&\ s and orchards surround the officers' quarters and barracks, which are built of stone and command an extended view of 

;aii.' 

CANON SCENERY. 

v^ ..!.. ■ scenery is a feature of Utah, and may well hold a place among the attractions of her capital. The Cottonwood and 

er ca^ ons are just representatives of this, and the " Castle Gate" and "Devil's Slide" good illustrations of their curious rock 

To an eye from abroad this is wonderland, and this brief description but a memory of Utah sights and scenes. 



4 



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0- 



SECTION OF ROOF OF TAEERrJACLE, 



E N D V\' M E rj T H O U S t. 



DESERET NEWS AND TITHING OFFICE. 




WALK E R HOUSE, 



CONTINENTAL HOTEL. 



THE CULLE N. 



CASTLE GATE, D. &R. GR 



SCENF ON THE SOUTH COTTONWOOD- 




UTE M OTH ER AND C HI LD. 



DEV1L5 5LIDE, WEBER CANYON 



POCOTELLO INDIANS. 



MAIN STREET LOOKING SOUTH. 



BOARD OF TRADE-2"-°S ST 



MAIN STREET LOOKING NORTH. 




VIEW IN FORT DOUGLASS. 



OFFICERS QUARTERS, FORT DOUGLASS. 



GROFS-BECK BLOCK AND POST OFFICE.; 



FIRST RESIDENCE ERECTED IN UTAH.IS'rT. 



SALT LAKE CITVANDWASATCH MOUNTAiNS.FROM TOPOF TEMPLE 



lr«^^M 




COUNTY JAI L. 



DENVER AND RIO GRANDE RAILWAY DEPOT. 



Z, C . M . I SHOE FACTOR 1". 



ST. MARKS, EPISCOPAL CATHEDRAL 



ST Mary's hospital [c a -t h o li c .] 



METHODIST CHURCH. 




CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



DE5ERET UNIVERSl TY. 



PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



BLACK ROCK- 



GARFIELD BEACH GREAT SALT LAKE. 




THE PAVILLION GARFIELD BEACH GREAT SALT LAKE. 



BATH INCH OUSES. 



THE HERALD BUILDING 



UNION BLOCK- 




POLYGAMY IN OLDEN TIME. 



J. F. S M I TH. 



JOSEPH SMITH. 




SRIGHAM YOUNG 



JOHN TAYLOR. 

PROM IN FN T MDRMriMQ 



GEO.Q. CANNON. 




BRIGHAM YOUNGS GRAVE. 



A MORMON EMIGRANT TRAIN COALVILLE. 



GAROO HOUSE. RESIDENCE OFTHE PRESIDENT OF THE MORMON CHURCH 



INTERIOR OF MORMON T A B E R N A C L E , 2 5 O FEET LONG. 




Z. C. M. I. BU I LD I N6 . 



THE TEMPLL Ai- II WILL APPEAR WHEN COMPLETED. 



-rj. - » a - ^-J 



TEMPLE BLOCK 



BEEHIVE HOUSE AND EAGLE GATE 




TABERNACLE 



ASSEMBLY HALL 



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